


Communication errors

by DeVloer



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Bilingual Character(s), But only the last chapter is a bit angsty, Comfort, Communication Failure, Crying, Friendship, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Just a nice happy story with no major plot, Light Angst, Other, The others aren't, lotsa fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeVloer/pseuds/DeVloer
Summary: Lots of hermits bring lots of nationalities. Unfortunately, that can also bring lots of problems.Just a fluffy story that I wrote to express my common frustrations of being bilingual. Hope you enjoy it! <3It's finished!
Relationships: Keralis & BdoubleO100, Mumbo Jumbo & TangoTek, They're all platonic, iskall85 & grian
Comments: 43
Kudos: 296





	1. Dresses and Pies

One of the great things about hermitcraft was the many different nationalities. It was amazing really, how all these different people from all over the world had come together and found unexpected friendships with each other.

All of them would be eternally grateful for joining the world. The innocent pranking and roleplaying was tons of fun, and they all knew there would always be someone there if you needed to get comforted after a rough day.

They were a family, no matter where they came from.

Unfortunately, different languages sometimes bring different problems. They learned that the hard way.

"So my legs are still stuck together by the honey, I got half a pie left, and then suddenly I hear knocking."

Tango patiently nodded, listening to Mumbo's story. He'd lost track about what was going on about halfway through, but hadn't been able to get through Mumbo's excited babbling. So now he was just mindlessly nodding, sometimes adding a short. "Hm, right."

"Well, I could guess who it was. It had to be Grian. But here's the thing, it was like 5 in the morning, so all I was wearing was a dressing gown and-"

That caught Tango's attention, and he cut Mumbo off with a laugh. The mustached man cocked an eyebrow and stared at him.

"What?"

"Nothing, just-" Tango let out a few more chuckles. "You were wearing a dressing gown?"

He furrowed his eyebrows together. "Yeah? What's funny about that?"

Tango pursued his lips together to try and hide his smile, but the corners of his mouth were curling up despite his efforts. Then he just shrugged. "I guess I just never thought you were the type of guy to wear a dress."

"A dress? But-" Mumbo's cheeks went red when he saw the way Tango was looking at him. One hand on his hip, and lightly biting his lip with a wide grin as he eyed Mumbo up and down. 

"D-Dude!" He yelled out, flustered. Almost as if he was Tango was invading his privacy, he tried covering his body with his hands. 

The red-eyed man let out a loud laugh and doubled over. "G-Gosh... That image is never getting out of my head..."

Blood rushed to Mumbo's face and lightly punched the other. "N-Not _that!_ I-I-I mean a _dressing gown!_ You know, the thing you wear after getting out of the shower?"

Tango was still giggling, and it took him a short while to calm himself down enough to answer. "A dressing gown is a _dress_ , Mumbo. Which, by the way, red would suit you the best-"

"STOP IMAGINING ME IN A DRESS!"

Tango ignored him and continued. "I think the word you're looking for is bathrobe."

He furrowed his eyebrows together. "Wait, a bathrobe? But-"

He cut himself off, finally understanding the confusion. "Oh, of course. You're American!"

"You're only realizing that now?" Tango raised an eyebrow and teasingly chuckled.

"No, no. Of course not." Mumbo was laughing now too and pointed at the other hermit. "In Brittain, a dressing gown is a bathrobe. But you're American, so you just think I mean a dress."

"Oohh." Tango nodded in understanding, but then let out a laugh right after. "You know, you can still wear a dress if you want to-"

Mumbo laughed and lightly pushed his friend. "Sure, in your dreams~"

"What's going to happen in your dreams?"

Both hermits turned around. Etho came out of one of the stores and walked up to them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Mumbo's wearing a dress!"

Mumbo went completely red again and stuttered out an explanation. "N-No! He means a dressing gown!"

"Dressing gown?" Etho slightly tilted his head before he understood. "Oh, you mean a housecoat!"

Three seconds of silence passed as Tango and Mumbo processed the word. Then, they shot a glance at each other, sharing the same bewildered expression.

"Canadians are weird."

"Agreed."


	2. Help! I lost my småsten!

Iskall sighed, putting his hands behind his head to lay down more comfortably. It was a beautiful day; the sun was bright and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Perfect time to lay down by a lake and do absolutely nothing. Just him, the grass and the soft waves of the water filling his ears.

What could ruin this?

"HEY ISKAAAAAAAALL!"

Why did he even ask?

"Hi, Grian..."

Beside him, Grian harshly landed in the sand, bringing with him the loud cracking of fireworks. (Why was he even shooting them if he was heading towards the ground?)

The hermit nearly toppled over from the impact but was quickly on his feet again. Within seconds, he was in front of Iskall and casted a shadow over him.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Well, I was lying down and relaxing. But now you're here, so that plan went out the window."

Grian let out a giggle, and Iskall couldn't help but smile. They knew from each other they were just joking, and never said something that would actually hurt the other.

"Beautiful day, right?" Grian asked, and sat next to him. He reached out and laid his hands in the water, splashing it around a bit.

Iskall nodded. "Yeah, it's the perfect weather. I used to come here a lot but I've been busy with the omega tree."

"Really?" Grian turned his head around to look at him. "What do you do out here? Don't you get bored?"

Shrugging, he sat up. "Not really. It so quiet here, it gives me time to think about things."

"Think, huh?" Grian said thoughtfully.

Iskall let out a chuckle. "A foreign word to you, right?"

"Oh, shush."

He laughed and stared back at the water.

"You can't _just_ be thinking, right?" Grian asked again. "There's gotta be something else you do."

"Sometimes I swim a little." He admitted. "Or sometimes I try to find a..."

He stopped himself. What's that word?

Grian tilted his head. "A plant?"

"No, no." Iskall shook his head and looked around to see if the... the thing was somewhere around him. "It's from... stone."

"A rock?" Grian attempted again, trying to help his friend.

"No!" He said in frustration, harder than he intended. But Grian didn't seem bothered by it. "You know, a småsten!"

Grian, who obviously didn't understand Swedish, just cluelessly stared at him.

Iskall sighed, trying to describe it. "It's like a rock, but smaller!"

"...Little rock?" Grian slightly chuckled at his own joke, but Iskall was too focused on trying to remember that he didn't laugh.

"You know, one of those stones that you can throw on the water and it bounces!"

"Oooh, you mean a pebble!"

"YES! THAT'S IT!"

Iskall sighed loudly in satisfaction. "Finally! Geez, that sucks."

Grian let out a chuckle. "God, I'm glad I don't have that. Sounds frustrating..."

"It is," Iskall said, but then shrugged. "Well, it's not _that_ bad. But when you just lose a specific word, it freaking sucks."

Grian just nodded and stared back at over the lake.

A few seconds passed, and both of them relaxed from the warm sunlight. Grian eventually let himself lay down on his back, and Iskall followed suit. 

"Hey, Iskall?" Grian asked softly, breaking the long silence.

"Hm?"

"Do you, like... _think_ in Swedish?"

Iskall cocked an eyebrow at the question and leaned up on his elbows. "Where's this coming from?"

Grian twiddled with his fingers, not looking him in the eyes. "Well. Because I've only ever spoken one language. I mean, I speak a little Japanese, but not at all fluently. But you speak _two_ languages. Don't words get confusing sometimes?"

Iskall tilted his head thoughtfully before letting himself fall back on the grass. "I guess sometimes...Sometimes I want to express something in a certain way, but then I can't find the English word for it. That's quite annoying I guess."

He let out a short chuckle. "But I mean, that happens in Swedish too. I guess when you speak two languages so often, the words just kind of mingle together."

Grian nodded slowly but realized his friend wouldn't be able to see it, so instead just recited his thoughts. "Sounds confusing."

"Confusing? Yeah, it is." Iskall stared up at the sky. "But I wouldn't change it. I mean, if I didn't speak English, I wouldn't be able to talk to you guys."

He shrugged. "So I guess... I think in both? Most of the time it's in English, but certain words are still in Swedish. But then again, I spend _one_ afternoon talking with my family, and everything turns back to Swedish again."

"... I guess I sort off understand. But it's still weird to me for multiple words to have the same meaning but have such... different sounds."

Iskall chuckled. "I can't really explain it. It's like..."

He tried to find an example, distantly waving a hand in the air, but couldn't find one. "No, I don't know. I can't explain it, I just... understand it."

A silence fell over the two hermits, as both let their mind wander.

Iskall slowly felt his eyes getting heavier, and allowed himself to drown in the calm atmosphere. It was almost hypnotic, the warm sun, the soft animal noises around him, and the slow breathing of Grian. He almost could... have fallen...... a...sleeppppp.......zzzzzz.....

"I'm glad you speak English..." Grian said softly.

But iskall's thoughts were already dancing above the clouds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say how much this actually happens to me? God it's the most annoying thing ever
> 
> Next chapter might take a bit longer, I'm having a bit of trouble with it.


	3. Hmmm... Coootton Caaandy~ (Pt. 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so. I wrote this but it's sort of split into two parts. The next part is probably coming out later today and that will be the final chapter.
> 
> This second part is quite a bit angstier, so if you like that look forward to it I guess? XD

"Uh oh! Gotta sleep!"

BdoubleO wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead and dropped the many layers of stone into the closest chest. He was still working on his massive cliffside, and by this point was too far into to project to care about the neatness of his chests. It didn't help that half of his chests were still filled with Etho's glass.

Oh, he's going to get him back for that later.

He swung his pickaxe over his shoulder and let out a pant of exhaustion. He was nearly relieved the sun was finally going down, all the hard work all day had made him very sleepy.

A light chuckle escaped his lips as he put on his elytra and made his way to his half house. He loved sleeping. Might even say he _lived_ for sleeping. Never skipped a night's sleep, sometimes even napping in the middle of the day. The other hermits loved joking about it, and eventually, he even got the nickname "the sleepmaster".

He landed in front of the door and stepped inside. He wore the title with pride, that's something he'd learned from young age. When you get teased about something, own it. They can't joke about it if you're proud of it.

Plus, he knew it was all in good fun anyway.

He walked down the stairs to the bed in his basement, his limbs feeling heavier with each step. He was more tired than usual and didn't bother with properly putting his armor away, instead just dropping it before him on the ground.

Stumbling to the bedroom, he let himself flop down on the covers. Within seconds his mind was gone, his dreams filling with a pink... fluffy... delicious... cotton candy~

"BUBBLEEEES!!"

The cotton candy disappeared before his eyes, and Bdubs was awake in seconds. Disoriënted, he glanced around the room, trying to found where the noise was coming from.

Right... It's the front door... Keralis...

He dragged himself away from his bed and forced himself to open the door. It's Keralis... And it's late at night... Gotta be important...

Slowly, he opened the door, revealing a wide-eyed Keralis.

"Yeah?" He asked with rough voice, coming off ruder than he wanted to.

"Oh, bubbles you look horrible!" Keralis stepped in without permission, but Bdubs didn't really care. All he wanted to do was go back to his cotton candy.

"You won't believe what happened! I came to look at your other housse, but youuh weerr thejngd. So I cammg to lookjdf dfhthe ajsdj ekjkndkjneknfjddksnkjfnksnfkj dsvdsvdsvdrSHASHWAMMYVOIDioewjfposdkakfjdjs."

All the words in Bdubs' ears started mingling together, and suddenly he couldn't hear a word his friend was saying. His accent had always been a little hard to decipher, but maybe it was because he was exhausted, or Keralis was just talking too quickly, but all Bdubs heard was buzzing.

"Keralis." He interrupted in the middle of his story, making the other abruptly stop and raise his eyebrows in confusion. Bdubs instantly softened his voice. "Sweetface, I can't understand you. You're talking too fast."

A couple of seconds passed before Keralis' cheeks went red in realization. "Oh, bubbles, I'm sorry! I didn't realize!"

"Oh, it's fine!" Bdubs said quickly, flashing a sincere smile at his friend. "Don't worry about it!"

Keralis didn't smile back and instead tilted his head. "Does that happen often? That you can't understand me?"

Bdubs stared back at him. "Sometimes." He admitted honestly. "But most of the time it's just one or two words and I can use context clues to guess what you said."

"Oh..." The Pole said softly and turned to look at the ground. "I didn't know."

"Hey, hey." Bdubs quickly said, noticing the other was upset and completely forgetting his previous tiredness. He leaned forward and grabbed his hand. "It's really not a big deal. Sometimes you just get excited and start talking a little too quickly."

Keralis blinked slowly and kept his eyes at his feet, not answering.

Bdubs' eyebrows furrowed together at seeing his friend bummed out, and he softly squeezed his fingers. He reached out his other hand and tenderly gripped Keralis' chin, lifting his face up so they were making eye-contact again.

"Come on, sweetface. Don't be sad, I don't like seeing you sad! It's really not a big deal, believe me!"

Keralis looked at him with droopy eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!" Bdubs said, letting go of his chin. "Now, where's that beautiful smile?"

A hint of amusement flashed in the other's eyes, but he pursued his lips together like he didn't want to give the satisfaction yet.

"Do I need to tickle you?"

"No, no!" The hermit said quickly, letting out a giggle. "Anything but that!"

"That's better." Bdubs snickered, before glancing out the window (or well, the open side of the house). The sun was now all the way gone and the moon was shining brightly over the house, reflecting on the pool water.

"You know, it's pretty late." The American turned his head back. "You wanna crash over here?"

Keralis shortly took a glance outside before nodding. "Sure. It'll be a sleepover!"

The word "sleep" hit Bdubs' ears, and like a punch to the face, he remembered his exhaustion. Almost instantly, his knees start to wobble and his eyelids got heavier.

"Yeah... Sure." He said slowly and let out a yawn. "But less talking and more sleeping."

Keralis giggled. "Of course, baby. We'll sleep as much as you want."

Bdubs didn't respond, as his shoulders dropped down more and more. Keralis could tell that he hitting the point where he'd just plummet on the floor and sleep there, so he quickly dragged him to the bedroom.

The bed came into view for Bdubs, and he let himself fall over in less than a second. He mumbled a "Goodnight, Keralis" but because his face was stuffed in a pillow, it sounded more like 'G'night, K'lis"

Keralis shook his head with a grin and crawled under the covers beside his friend, reaching over to turn off the bedside light.

"Goodnight, sweetface... And thank you."


	4. Insomnia (Pt. 2.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kinda of had a different idea with the last chapter but it didn't flow well so I divided it into two parts cause I wasn't satisfied.
> 
> But it is quite a bit angstier, so just a quick warning
> 
> (Plus I mean, writing more with these sweethearts is always fun)

"Bubbles...? Are you awake?"

Bdubs was still half-asleep but managed to bring out a confused "Mhm...?" at the question. The thought of opening his eyes didn't cross his mind yet, so all he did was turn his head towards his friend.

"Do you think the other hermits have trouble understanding me?"

Not immediately answering, he opened his eyes. Despite the darkness, he could see the faint outline of Keralis. He was laying on his side, his back facing him so Bdubs couldn't see his face. But he didn't need to see his expression; the tone of his voice was enough to tell him the other was feeling blue.

"You're really upset about this, aren't you?"

Keralis stayed quiet for a moment before he sat up in the bed, bringing his knees up to his chest. He breathed in a shaky breath and Bdubs could feel his heart break as he spoke.

"It's just that... After what you said it all just makes so much more sense. I've had so many times where I was telling a story to another hermit and I was talking very quickly and then I finish and they just kind of stare at me and then nod and say "what a nice story, Keralis!" and I realize now that they couldn't understand me and they were just too nice to say anything and it's just so-"

A deep voice crack interrupted him, and he let out a sob, hiding his face in his knees. Bdubs, who had been frozen in place, finally came into action and was beside the others in seconds. 

He wrapped his arms around his friend, who in response buried his face in the other's chest, letting out a tiny sniffle.

Neither of them spoke for a while, as Keralis silently let the tears flow. Bdubs slowly rubbed circles on the other's back, and rested his chin on top of Keralis' head to bring them closer.

"... I know it's dumb to get upset over..." The Pole said softly, breaking the silence. "It just never crosses my mind that my accent was a problem. I didn't think the hermits wouldn't be able to... understand me..."

"It's not dumb," Bdubs said comfortingly. "It's okay to get sad about it. Everyone cries sometimes."

Keralis swallowed and squeezed a patch of his friend's sweater between his fingers. "Sometimes I wish never had this dumb accent."

"WHAT!?" Bdubs yelled, making the other flinch. He lightly pushed the other away from him to look him in the eyes but kept his hand on the other's shoulders.

"But I love your accent! It sounds so soft and beautiful! It makes your voice so unique and so nice to listen to. I-I mean your voice is delightful on its own, but your accent makes it sound like... like..."

He paused for a moment, trying to search for the right words. "...Like the melted chocolate on top of strawberries! You know? Like that final touch that completes the picture. I mean, I just can't imagine you without your accent, it's part of you! It completes you!"

The realization came over him that he was rambling and he stumbled out an apology. Keralis was staring at him with wide eyes, a light blush flushing his cheeks.

Bdubs slowly tilted his head. "And you know. Sometimes it might be hard to understand you, but that doesn't mean I would change it! Plus! When I first met you, your accent was much worse!"

His eyes widened at the word choice. "Eh- N-Not- Not worse! Your accent wasn't worse! I-I just meant to say how much you've improved! Like it's so much better and clearer now! But-But not that it was bad before! Just that-"

"Bubbles." Keralis cut him off, making the other look at him. A tiny smile was now visible on his lips, and Bdubs' heart felt lighter at the sight.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I know what you mean."

Bdubs sighed in relief and reached out to grab the other's hands. "You feeling better?"

He let out a small chuckle and nodded. "Yes."

"Good." He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on the other's forehead. "Cause I don't like seeing you cry. Especially over something like this."

Keralis giggled at the gesture, as his cheeks unwillingly heated up. A short pause followed before he looked down at their linked hands. 

"Thank you."

BdoubleO smiled and gave a short, reassuring squeeze. "You're welcome, sweetface... Now, let's go back to sleep and stop worrying your pretty little head about it, alright?"

"Alright," Keralis said with a grin before leaning back down on the mattress. A yawn fell over Bdubs lips and he lowered himself down, the sleepiness from before setting back in. He placed an arm behind his head and let his mind wander.

An unexpected weight on his collarbone made him open his eyes in surprise, but he instantly relaxed when he saw that Keralis had cuddled up to him. He slightly shifted in response and wrapped an arm around the other's waist, pulling them closer together.

"Goodnight Bubbles."

"Sleep well Keralis."

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Btw, the ending is completely platonic. I don't ship real people.
> 
> Leave a comment if you want to and I guess I'll see you guys next time?
> 
> <333333


End file.
